Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
UConn’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) would like to inform the UConn Community that it is the National Weather Service’s Hurricane Preparedness Week. The week’s theme follows seven major steps:
Determine your risk
Develop an evacuation plan
Secure an insurance check-up
Assemble disaster supplies
Strengthen your home
Identify trusted sources of information for a hurricane event
Complete your written hurricane plan
OEM encourages all to visit the Weather-Ready Nation’s website for more information:
UConn Police Officers speak with students during Move-in Day in 2015. The new Office of Emergency Management is responsible for planning and coordinating the University’s preparedness and response to an array of situations, ranging from the annual rite of move-in weekend to routine disruptions like winter storms, all the way to potentially deadly hazards. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)
It’s not always the giant, front page news-type events we deal with. — Chris Renshaw
The office, part of the Division of University Safety and fully staffed since January, is responsible for planning and coordinating the University’s preparedness and response to a dizzying array of situations, ranging from the annual rite of move-in weekend to routine disruptions like winter storms, all the way to potentially deadly hazards. It’s a huge undertaking that requires speed, efficiency, and flexibility – and mostly happens behind the scenes.
“It’s not always the giant, front page news-type events we deal with,” UConn Fire Captain Chris Renshaw, the Fire Department’s liaison to the office, says. “Emergency management is a way of coordinating the University’s response to everything from power outages to the spring concert.”
Although emergency preparedness had long been a part of the Division of University Safety’s mandate, it was relatively recently that the University realized that to effectively carry out that charge, a separate office was needed. Any given incident can require action from a huge range of diverse units at UConn, from Facilities to Transportation to Athletics to the Police Department. Bringing them all together, and coordinating an effective response to an incident that could last hours or even days, is something that can’t be handled on a catch-as-catch-can basis.
Crowd events, such as welcoming back the returning national championship women’s basketball team (shown at Storrs Center in 2014), require a coordinated response. (Bret Eckhardt/UConn File Photo)
That’s where the new office – in which Renshaw works with UConn Police Lt. Christopher Casa and emergency management specialists Blaize Levitan and Mary Rose Duberek – comes in.
“We’ve become the central collaborative point for operations, administration, and academics to be on the same page for preparedness, prevention, response, and recovery of a significant event that affects not only UConn but the communities that surround us,” Renshaw says.
While most of OEM’s work happens in the background of daily events, the office has embraced the opportunity to help the broader public prepare for emergencies – whether that means students, faculty, or neighbors in the surrounding town.
The division’s web page, http://publicsafety.uconn.edu/emergency/, is a recently launched resource packed with information on responding to specific hazards, making plans for general preparedness, a glossary for some of the common emergency operations terminology that may sound strange to the uninitiated, and more.
Particularly important to the office’s approach, Renshaw says, are the individual parts of the site intended for specific audiences: students, parents, faculty and staff, and community partners.
“A critical incident doesn’t affect everyone in the exact same way, so we wanted to take a more holistic approach to preparedness, and really consider all the different stakeholders,” he says.
As a result, there are guides specifically for – for example – businesses, places of worship, and neighbors, while other information is tailored for the needs of students.
A Facilities truck plows snow on the Storrs campus. Winter storms are just one of the disruptions the Office of Emergency Management anticipates and prepares for. (Bret Eckhardt/UConn File Photo)
The office has also launched a safety and awareness campaign – called UConnREADY – that incorporates everything from social media to posters in residence halls and public spaces, all to promote a greater understanding of the importance of being ready for the unexpected.
So far, the office has been active in events ranging from winter weather to the victory celebration that followed the women’s basketball team’s record-breaking 11th national championship, and Renshaw says the dividends of the new approach are already apparent.
“We can’t develop plans at a snail’s pace if they need to be used in an emergency tomorrow,” he says. “We’ve built an office based on the understanding that, because of the nature of the work, it’s important to do things right the first time.”